2004-08-06

I was reading Daniel's lovely weblog when I stumbled across a link to SAC. I read their manifesto, and I have to say: these anarcho-syndicalist guys are nuts.

Private property, freedom of association, and freedom to trade are basic rights. Capitalism is merely a system that arises through the natural expression of these rights. People will barter, trade, buy and sell no matter what governments do. People create markets. It's just the way of the world. The more that government does to put restrictions of the natural exercise of essential liberties, the more unjust and illegitimate that goverment becomes.

Sure there are acts of injustice perpetrated by the powerful against the weak. A proper role of government is to ensure that this doesn't happen. But this is not best accomplished by limiting the freedoms of everyone.

It is proper that those who work hard succeed and that those who are lazy fail.

Yes, government can provide a safety net so that the poor are looked after. But there should be an incentive to work. There is something very wrong and corrupt with a system in which people who sit on their asses all day live as well as those who work hard. One gets the distinct impression that these anarcho-syndicalists just don't think any inequality should be allowed to exist. The trouble with this line of thinking is that it assumes people will work hard even if they don't have a personal incentive to do so.

A system that rewards hard work, innovation, and personal responsibility is one in which every person has an equal opportunity to live up to his potential. Not everyone will have the exact same standard of living. This is the way things are, and the way they are meant to be.

It's interesting to see how my political philosophy has evolved since I moved to Sweden. My early adult life was spent in the United States. There I took freedom for granted, and blamed the many social problems on a failure of the political system. But after having spent a few years in a country with more socialistic politics, I must say I have a deepened respect for the American system. This is not to say that it's perfect -- far from it! Every democracy on the planet has a slightly different approach, and they're all imperfect. The important thing is that people continue to improve on their democracies, step by little step.